Post by Nester the Lark on Aug 12, 2007 10:19:49 GMT -5
3PS #34
Streets of Rage 2
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
System: Wii Virtual Console, Genesis/Mega Drive
One year ago, three ex-cops named Axel, Blaze and Adam used nothing but their bare knuckles to save the city from the control of the evil crime lord Mr. X. It looked like things were finally getting back to normal when suddenly Axel and Blaze got word that Adam had been kidnapped, and that Mr. X was back! Now, our two heroes, along with their new companions Max and Skate, are taking it back to the streets in Streets of Rage 2 from Sega.
You’ll fight through eight bone-crunching levels before you reach Mr. X. There’s a baseball stadium, a factory, an arcade, and even a weird amusement park. The four playable characters each have unique abilities and move sets that require different strategies to master. Big bruiser Max is slow, but he can dish out as much as he can take. Skate is light on defense, but his speed allows him to dodge many attacks. Blaze and Axel are rounder characters, but all of them are pretty well balanced overall. And in the classic brawler tradition, there are plenty of weapons you can grab that will help you lay the smack down.
But no matter how tough you think you are, we all need to call in a little backup once in a while. That’s where the two-player mode comes in. Grab a buddy for some old school co-op action, and you’ll even up the odds just a bit. Or go into the Duel mode and just beat on each other. Either way, you’ll get twice the punches, flying kicks, body slams and missing teeth! Ouch!
While the Streets of Rage series could easily be seen as a blatant rip-off of Capcom’s Final Fight, I always preferred the Streets. The creativity of the levels, the variety of moves and combos, the fun characters, and the great soundtrack from Yuzo Koshiro, as well as Sega’s long lost ability to simply make things cool, give the game a huge amount of appeal. The beat-em-up genre is a lost art these days, but Streets of Rage 2 is a prime example of why it was so popular in the early 90’s.
The best way to clean up a city is with a thug’s face. The old brawler formula is solidly executed, and the two-player mode is exactly where these kinds of games shine. If you like classic, no-holds-barred, face-punching, pavement-cracking action, you can’t do much better than Streets of Rage 2, and it’s available right now on the Wii Virtual Console. So, get out there and take out the trash, and the city will finally be safe again…until Streets of Rage 3!
Original Release:
US, JP: January 1993
EU: 1993
Bonus links:
Streets of Rage Online - fansite
Gameplay footage - from GameTrailers
Streets of Rage 2
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
System: Wii Virtual Console, Genesis/Mega Drive
One year ago, three ex-cops named Axel, Blaze and Adam used nothing but their bare knuckles to save the city from the control of the evil crime lord Mr. X. It looked like things were finally getting back to normal when suddenly Axel and Blaze got word that Adam had been kidnapped, and that Mr. X was back! Now, our two heroes, along with their new companions Max and Skate, are taking it back to the streets in Streets of Rage 2 from Sega.
You’ll fight through eight bone-crunching levels before you reach Mr. X. There’s a baseball stadium, a factory, an arcade, and even a weird amusement park. The four playable characters each have unique abilities and move sets that require different strategies to master. Big bruiser Max is slow, but he can dish out as much as he can take. Skate is light on defense, but his speed allows him to dodge many attacks. Blaze and Axel are rounder characters, but all of them are pretty well balanced overall. And in the classic brawler tradition, there are plenty of weapons you can grab that will help you lay the smack down.
But no matter how tough you think you are, we all need to call in a little backup once in a while. That’s where the two-player mode comes in. Grab a buddy for some old school co-op action, and you’ll even up the odds just a bit. Or go into the Duel mode and just beat on each other. Either way, you’ll get twice the punches, flying kicks, body slams and missing teeth! Ouch!
While the Streets of Rage series could easily be seen as a blatant rip-off of Capcom’s Final Fight, I always preferred the Streets. The creativity of the levels, the variety of moves and combos, the fun characters, and the great soundtrack from Yuzo Koshiro, as well as Sega’s long lost ability to simply make things cool, give the game a huge amount of appeal. The beat-em-up genre is a lost art these days, but Streets of Rage 2 is a prime example of why it was so popular in the early 90’s.
The best way to clean up a city is with a thug’s face. The old brawler formula is solidly executed, and the two-player mode is exactly where these kinds of games shine. If you like classic, no-holds-barred, face-punching, pavement-cracking action, you can’t do much better than Streets of Rage 2, and it’s available right now on the Wii Virtual Console. So, get out there and take out the trash, and the city will finally be safe again…until Streets of Rage 3!
Original Release:
US, JP: January 1993
EU: 1993
Bonus links:
Streets of Rage Online - fansite
Gameplay footage - from GameTrailers
